1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical transceiver with a lock mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical transceiver is disposed between an optical fiber as a transmission line and an optical communication device as an optical electronic equipment, and detachably attached to the optical communication device (host device). The optical communication device has a slot called “cage”, where a housing of the optical transceiver is housed in the cage.
The housing houses optical parts and electrical parts for optical communication. The optical parts are built in at the front end of the housing, and arranged to be optically connected to an optical fiber to be inserted. An electrical terminal is formed at the rear end of the housing to be connected electrically to an internal circuit of the optical communication device.
The optical transceiver has a lock mechanism so as not to cause an unnecessary detachment. For instance, the housing is provided with a movable lock member formed movably in the insertion/extraction direction of the movable lock member inside the housing, and the cage is provided with a lock hole. When the movable lock member is move in the insertion direction with respect to the housing, the movable lock member is put into the lock hole of the cage to allow the locking of the housing to the cage, where the optical transceiver is fixed to the optical communication device. In contrast, when the movable lock member is moved in the extraction direction with respect to the housing, the movable lock member is released from the lock hole to detach the housing from the cage so that the optical transceiver can be removed from the optical communication device.
FIG. 9 shows the appearance of a conventional optical transceiver 91. In the optical receiver 91, a housing 92 can be inserted at its rear portion into a cage 3, and is provided with a lock mechanism 93 at a front end of the housing 92.
As shown in FIG. 10, the conventional optical transceiver needs, as parts for constructing the lock mechanism 93, a movable lock member 95 rotatable around a rotation shaft 94, an actuator 96, two rotating levers 97, a pin 98 for the rotating lever (hereinafter also referred to as “rotating lever pin”), two coil springs 99, and an identification color attachment 100.
The actuator 96 serves to put the movable lock member 95 into a lock hole 4 provided in the cage 3 or to remove it therefrom, and the actuator 96 is formed movably in the front/back direction in the housing 92.
Furthermore, a central bar section 101 connected to the actuator 96 has a protrusion 102 engaged with the movable lock member 95 (see FIGS. 11 and 12), and a step portion 103 secured to the housing 92 and functioning as a stopper after the protrusion 102 climbs over the rotation shaft 94 with the movable lock member 95 rotatably attached thereto (see also FIGS. 11 and 12).
FIG. 11 shows a state that the housing 92 is engaged with the cage 3 when the actuator 96 is moved backward. In this state where the protrusion 102 climbs over the rotation shaft 94 and the step portion 103 is placed against the rotation shaft 94, the protrusion 102 pushes the movable lock member 95 such that the movable lock member 95 is inserted in the cage 3 and hits against a cage 3a (which is indicated as a part of the cage 3 in FIGS. 11 and 12). Then, the cage 3a is pressed and expanded downward by the movable lock member 95 and the movable lock member 95 is thereby put into the lock hole 4 formed in the cage 3, so that the hosing 92 is engaged with the cage 3 and restricted in insertion/extraction thereof.
FIG. 12 shows a state that the housing 92 is released from the cage 3 when the actuator 96 is moved forward. In this state where the protrusion 102 is moved forward to a position where the protrusion 102 does not climb over the rotation shaft 94, the movable lock member 95 is made rotatable and the movable lock member 95 is rotated by being pulled by the housing 92 to a position where the movable lock member 95 is aligned with the rotation shaft 94. Thus, the movable lock member 95 is released from the lock hole 4 formed in the cage 3, where the housing 92 can be extracted from the cage 3.
The actuator 96 is formed by metal molding and formed of a metallic or plastic material.
The rotating lever 97 is coupled to the actuator 96 via the rotating lever pin 98 and the rotating levers 97 are axis-rotatable around the rotating lever pin 98 from a upper front end portion of the housing 92 to a forward position of the lock mechanism 93. The rotating levers 97 function as a handle for moving the actuator 96 in the front direction of the lock mechanism 93 when being rotated forward. When the actuator 96 is moved backward and the housing 92 is engaged with the cage 3, the rotating levers 97 are arranged at the upper front end portion of the housing 92 so as not to make unnecessary protrusion thereat. Thus, this arrangement does not interfere with the insertion/extraction of an optical fiber at the front end of the housing 92. The rotating levers 97 are formed of a metal, and formed by folding a metallic plate. The rotating lever pin 98 is formed of a metal rod material.
The coil springs 99 are energized when the actuator 96 is moved forward, and de-energized to move the actuator 96 backward. The coil springs 99 are placed between a part of the housing 92 and the actuator 96.
The identification color attachment 100 is a sign for identifying visually the type or specification of an optical transceiver according to its color. The identification color attachment 100 is disposed on the front surface of the rotating levers 97 when the housing 92 is engaged. The reason for providing the identification color attachment 100 is that the rotating levers 97 are formed of the metal and therefore difficult to be colored. The identification color attachment 100 is attached to the rotating levers 97 by using adhesives etc.
The related arts of the invention are, for example, JP-A-2004-343506, and JP-A-H06-170979.
The conventional optical transceiver includes many components for composing the lock mechanism. Namely, the lock mechanism requires the movable lock member 95, the actuator 96, the rotating levers 97, the rotating lever pin 98, the coil springs 99, the identification color attachment 100 and the like.
Furthermore, the conventional optical transceiver has the complicated construction that the components are engaged with each other, placed against each another, or combined with each other. In addition, the mechanistic factors for assembling the components are complicated, and it takes long time for assembling them.
Therefore, the costs (i.e., parts cost and assembly cost) for the conventional optical transceiver become expensive.